


42

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-03-12
Updated: 2005-03-12
Packaged: 2019-05-15 21:11:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14798036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Sam knows the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Run up to a White House Christmas. Sam's POV.





	42

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**42**

**by: Francesca**

**Pairing(s):** CJ/Sam  
**Rating:** YTEEN  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters but am just using them for a while; I'll put them back when I'm done. In the words of Sam Seaborn "Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright." I'm not borrowing or stealing, just sneaking some use while no one's looking.  
**Summary:** Sam knows the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Run up to a White House Christmas. Sam’s POV.  
**Spoiler:** None  


Cathy puts her head around my office door "Do you want anything for lunch boss?" She’s only joking when she calls me boss, trust me without Cathy and Ginger, Toby and I are lost. The assistants like Donna and Margaret secretly run this place, they know it, we know it,but we like to maintain the fiction that it’s the other way around. 

I push my laptop away slowly, it’s not that the words aren’t coming it’s more that they’re not the right ones. So far I’ve written 3 great speeches, they’re saved and stored on my hard drive and copies emailed are to Toby and we will use them. Problem is they aren’t the right speech for the Union dinner tomorrow, too highbrow, too lowbrow and in one case one that won’t need much alteration for the Correspondent’s dinner - I brought the funny. 

Cathy looks at me "I asked if you wanted anything for lunch Sam, not for the answer to the meaning of life". 

"It’s okay I’ll go down to the mess later" 

"Speech not going well then?" she asks knowingly 

I look rueful and shake my head, she knows me too well, "no, not really - though I’ve got some great backups now". 

When the words wont come I’ll find any excuse to get out of my office in the hope of finding inspiration in the halls, if all else fails I’ll close my office door and play music and then the staff know it’s really bad…. Music is almost verboten during the working week, though on the weekend there’ll be a conflicting wall of sound depending where you walk. Music tells you things about people you’d never suspect - I mean C.J plays ‘Right Said Fred’ and Tori Amos, amongst other things.She has two friends she goes to gym with who are on Lord Marbury’s staff and they’ve been bringing her C.Ds of English bands. This gives Toby, Josh and I something to tease her about, but some of it’s actually quite good… Just don’t tell her I said that! Josh tends to run to classical music, that and protest songs... I’ve never heard Toby play anything, but the assistants run the whole gamut through pop and out the other side. 

Cathy’s shaking her head "well you didn’t hear this from me but Chris is on his Christmas thing already" 

"Christmas? It’s still November!" 

"He says it’s only ‘just’ November" 

Chris is one of the chefs in the White House mess; we have three, one from Army, one from Navy and one from Airforce. Chris is the best, and the biggest and so you don’t argue with him, and not only ‘cause he won’t cook for you if he thinks you’re being unreasonable. Trust me, if Chris tells you its Tuesday, it’s Tuesday. Anyway Chris loves Christmas, gets into it in a big way and as early as he can. And of course no one argues with a 6 ft 5 guy who can strip a chicken in less than 2 minutes, especially not when the carving knives are on his side of the bench. 

"So what is it, decorations already? Or is it like last year where if you couldn’t sing a verse of a Christmas carol you didn’t get fed?" I’m grinning because as much of a pain as it can be Chris does make Christmas fun, he tries to make sure those of us who don’t go home often still get to enjoy it. 

"It’s worse" 

"How?" 

Cathy sighs "there’s a big bunch of mistletoe hung up in the doorway and if you meet anyone coming the other way you have to kiss them or you are barred from the mess". 

Oh boy. "How long for?" a day or so wouldn’t be that bad. 

Her face says I’m wrong, and what comes out is worse "a week". 

"A week, wow Chris is going to get utter obedience" 

Cathy nods "And there’s already a bunch of hopeful people loitering around the doorway, and some of them are waiting for you and Josh" 

She’s kidding, or at least I hope she is. 

"I’ll fend for myself today but apart from that you can get my lunch till Christmas is over, deal?" 

"Deal" though she doesn’t look convinced 

She turns to leave and I call after her, "42" 

She turns, puzzled "What’s 42?" 

"The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything" 

She leaves shaking her head and I get up from my desk to pace the halls in search of inspiration, and maybe lunch. 

I bump into Josh on my way around the wing. "A kiss under the mistletoe or a week’s ban from the mess huh?" is the first thing he says. 

"So Cathy tells me, she says Chris is pretty serious about it" 

Josh grins "he usually is. I hear we’re the kisses to claim too. I’m lucky though, Donna always brings me lunch; imagine if Ainsley was coming the other way, I’d have to lock lips with a Republican…or maybe Margaret". That thought alone is enough to silence Josh for a moment. 

"It’s a shame you couldn’t orchestrate it so you get someone you want to kiss" I’m thinking aloud at this point "but you’d need perfect timing, and someone else in on it to get them down there". I already know who I’d like to kiss but I’m going to hide in my office ‘till New Year or until someone takes the mistletoe down, though that is wishful thinking on my part…. 

Josh is grinning now, "you could have someone make a call and get them down there and you’d have to be standing in the doorway….or know that they’re coming" 

I nod, Josh has got a look on his face that means trouble for someone, and I know its big trouble when he slaps my back, a huge grin, with dimples breaking across his face. "Sam my friend" Oh God what have I started, "this has potential". He turns and walks away humming and I may have created a monster….. 

I figure I’ll go down to the mess now, see what Chris can be persuaded to rustle up, grab some coffee and see if I have a better idea about the Union dinner speech. If nothing else I’ve just seen Margaret go into Leo’s office and according to the guy at the front desk Ainsley’s out at the Hill with Oliver Babish. He also told me most of the assistants are still working and that Security’s on my side….I hope they’re teasing but I’m beginning to feel slightly worried about all this so if it’s quiet I’m making the most of it. 

I get down to the mess and it’s true, there’s a BIG bunch of mistletoe in the front doorway, with a sign by the side of the door stating the terms and conditions and by the looks of it Cathy’s got it right….if you meet someone coming through the door - no kiss no entry, no kiss you can exit but don’t come back for a week. It’s signed by Chris, James and Matt so there’s going to be no talking your way out of it with the other guys. Damn. 

Chris is refilling the coffee Perculator and the mess is blessedly empty. He turns to see me in the doorway and grins "Sam, you missed your fan club, you and Josh are on the top of the ‘wanted’ list you know" 

I pull him a face and hope he’s kidding "In that case you’re going to see me on the slow periods until after the holidays". 

Chris mutters "coward" and I’m not even going to honour that with a reply. 

"Got any fish?" 

"I was thinking of serving you chicken", I wince. "So what have you got against mistletoe anyway?" 

"Because there’s only one person I’d be interested in kissing" Oh Lord, open mouth insert foot Seaborn. Open mouth change socks reinsert feet. 

Luckily Chris seems to let me get away with it, he selects a fresh trout from the cold cabinet, I nod and he starts to prepare it. "But that’s my plan this year" he says "there’s a few people I want to see under there". Between Josh and Chris I think I’m going to be staying out of the mess until New Year. 

"I think I’ll take the fish to go" because the more Chris gloats the more worried I’m getting. 

He finishes frying it and begins to wrap it with a selection of vegetables and as I grab some coffee, I’ve collected my lunch, have it and my coffee in a brown bag to go and get to the doorway thinking I may have escaped scott free….and there’s someone coming the other way. I look back at Chris but he’s already noticed. 

She’s standing in the doorway now and looks over at Chris, "A kiss or a whole week?" She’s avoiding looking me in the eye. 

He nods "and that means your staff can’t take away for you during that week either" 

"You drive a hard bargain Chris" 

>From her tone of voice she’s considering it. She looks at me and smiles and I can’t help but grin back, the one person I wanted to kiss, the one person in the whole White House and she is right here. Maybe it’s only November but Christmas may come early. 

C.J’s smiling and leans forward and kisses my cheek, it wasn’t what I was hoping for but it’s a beginning and you won’t hear me complain. It’s more that I expected, I kiss her cheek and pull back reluctantly. 

"You don’t get away that easily" Chris is putting his two cents in. "It says a kiss right there, and that means a kiss on the lips, no copping out with kisses on cheeks, its non negotiable". 

We look at each other and I’m suddenly bashful, C.J’s blushing slightly. I don’t know what it is about this woman but she makes me feel 17 again. It’s only when I get to capture her gaze with mine I realise I’m going to do this, I’m going to kiss C.J and from the look in her eyes, she knows it too. 

It almost goes in slow motion from there, I must have put my lunch down because I’ve got both hands free. I bring one hand up to rest it against her cheek and lean forward, our gazes are locked until almost the last second when her eyelids drop closed. And our lips meet, and my eyes close. It’s a gentle brush of lips at first, but wow…. She tastes vaguely of coffee, but this is not a normal kiss, trust me I don’t think I’ve ever had a kiss affect me like this. It deepens, and one of us, maybe me maybe her I couldn’t tell, sighs. I understand now what people mean when they say time stood still. I couldn’t tell you which one of us finally broke it, but there we were standing in the doorway and something was different between us. I’m still resting my hand against her cheek but her eyes are dark and her face is soft. I open my mouth but just as I realise I don’t know what to tell her or where to start she places her finger against my lips gently and shakes her head. 

"That’s what I meant" comes a satisfied voice from behind me, we both turn to look at Chris, I’d be honest I’d forgotten he was there, by the look on C.J’s face she had as well. We look back at each other and smile…… 

"Are you two going to stand there all day? Hey Sam I didn’t cook that fish for it to go cold, don’t you have an elsewhere to be?" 

Chris may be 6ft 5, he may be an ex Navy SEAL and he may be a cordon bleu chef - but right now I want him to shut up, and go away because I want to talk to C.J and I want to kiss her again, but the moment is lost. She inclines her head acknowledging this fact, "Go on Sam" she says softly "you need to write your speech and I need to get some lunch while it’s quiet". 

I mutter something in the affirmative, awkward and shy again as I pick up my lunch and head back upstairs….. But one thing I know, I’ve just kissed C.J Cregg and it was wonderful and somehow I’m going to do it again. 


End file.
